


autumn mosaic

by greywardenblue



Series: falser than vows [3]
Category: October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-11-01 21:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20517674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Sylvester reflecting on his relationship to October, the child of his heart, and his family’s relationship to Tybalt going all the way back to London.. Otherwise known as “the one where Sylvester is convinced Tybalt and Toby are dating in secret and refusing to tell him”. Starts during A Local Habitation.





	autumn mosaic

**Author's Note:**

> Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.  
\- Carol Bishop Hipps
> 
> [this work is part of my "falser" series - it can be read standalone, but it references headcanons from the other works, namely a past relationship between Tybalt and Simon.]

Sylvester remembers her as a sullen child chasing autumn leaves in the gardens of Shadowed Hills, not even a year after they arrived. He remembers her as a little girl who overwaters the roses in her enthusiasm, a little girl who never looked as much like her mother as she should have. He remembers her as a runaway teenager with bruises on her face she wouldn’t explain. He remembers her as a woman, face shining as she holds the little girl that is her own. He remembers her as the knight covered in blood who had just killed a Firstborn, and he remembers her as a condemned woman standing trial in front of the Queen, the tips of her ears sharper than they had ever been. October is a mosaic of all those girls and women, of all those memories of her.

\---

“October Daye’s residence. October Daye is currently unavailable. May I take a message?”

Sylvester paused. That didn’t sound like an answering machine, but he wouldn’t have called himself an expert on human technology, even if he did use the phone frequently.

“Who is this?” he asked finally.

The man on the phone sighed. “This is October Daye’s residence,” he repeated. “October Daye is currently unavailable. If you tell me your name and your business, I will leave her a note so she can call you back. Are you in need of a detective?”

The voice was strangely familiar, but he couldn’t place it in the current context. Perhaps one of October’s human or changeling friends that he had met a few times when visiting her.

A detective? Of course, that was October’s human job description. “Oh, no. Well, yes, but…” He couldn’t very well introduce himself as the Duke of Shadowed Hills if he didn’t know who he was talking to. “This is her Uncle Sylvester. Did October get a secretary?”

There was a short pause, and then-- “Oooh,  _ Duke Torquill _ ,” the man sang into the phone. “My apologies for not _ immediately _ recognising your voice.”

Sylvester frowned. “Rand? Is that you?” He remembered a second late that the man was using a different name now - had been using a different name for centuries, and yet it was the other one that immediately came to his lips. The one he was using back when-- back in London. “Where is October? What are you doing in her house?” He knew Tybalt was an honest man at heart, and yet, he knew breaking and entering was not out of the realm of possibilities. 

“She is safely asleep, I assure you. Now, if we could skip to what your business with her is…”

Sylvester barely heard the rest of the sentence. He felt a headache coming on, and massaged his temples with his free hand. It wasn’t any of his business if Tybalt and October had slept together, he told himself. October was a grown woman, and so was Tybalt-- no, Tybalt was a grown man, so grown in fact that he was Sylvester’s age and he had already--  _ it wasn’t any of his business _ .

And yet, he couldn’t help feeling that it was exactly his business.

“You seem to have taken a liking to my family,” he said absent-mindedly, his mouth forming words even though his mind was lost in memories he’d pushed away years ago.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tybalt said.

That earned a bitter laugh. “You know  _ exactly  _ what I’m talking about.”

“I assure you, there is nothing inappropriate between October and I.”

“But you wouldn’t tell me if there was, would you? You didn’t, the last time.” He shouldn’t have been saying this. He shouldn’t have been bringing any of this up, and yet, once he started the words just wouldn’t  _ stop _ . “Oh, I knew about my sister, we all did, but she never considered you. But I didn’t know… The thought occurred to me, sometimes, but I always assumed… that one of you would have told me.”

The memories he spent fourteen years pushing down broke through the dam and flooded him. His twin’s voice trailing off in the middle of his speech, his brother opening his mouth then thinking better of it, Patrick accusing  _ him _ of not being a good brother, of not paying enough attention, January accusing them both of not trying hard enough to call their sister home. The days when there were three of them together, and then there was two of them with a growing distance and a third far away, and then there was truly just the two, and then… and then, it’s just him now.

Tybalt said something, but Sylvester only registered the tone, the cold dismissal that made it clear he had no right to the answer he was seeking.

“Have it your way,” he said. “I’ll just ask her about it, then.” October wouldn’t lie to him.  _ Not the way you lie to her _ , a voice in the back of his mind said, but he pushed it down. Parents had to lie to their children sometimes, they  _ had _ to. Telling her the truth after what his brother did would only hurt her.

Tybalt’s laugh pulled him back to the present, and he was quietly thankful for that. “Please do. I wish you recorded that conversation for me, too. I would love to see her reaction.”

Sylvester sighed. There was no getting anywhere with Rand-- Tybalt when he thought he was being amusing. “Please tell October I will be visiting her in a few hours, after tending to some business at the Queen’s Court.”

“I will make sure to let you know. Anything in particular you’d like to talk about?”

Tybalt’s voice was gentler this time, which suggested he was truly interested. That surprised him. They rarely talked to each other in private, and he could have counted the moments when Tybalt showed genuine interest in him on… well, maybe one and a half hands.

“It’s about January,” he said. “She hasn’t called in a while, and she’s not answering her phone. I just want October to go and make sure everything is alright.”

“How long has it been since she stopped calling?”

“Three weeks.”

Tybalt laughed, and Sylvester’s stomach dropped. “Please. If you were my uncle, I’d need a break from you sometimes too. Especially at her age. What is she, a hundred?”

This wasn’t the time for jokes. Perhaps he was wrong to think the other man would care. “Tybalt, please. Forgive me for being worried about my family after recent events.”

Tybalt hesitated before answering. “I only meant to reassure you that it is most likely nothing serious,” he said finally. “I didn’t mean to cause offense.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Sylvester said. He could feel a deep tiredness settling in his bones, and he knew he had to end this conversation quickly. “I must go to the Queen now. You will give October my message?”

October. At least seeing her would make him feel better.

“Of course.”

“Good hunting, Tybalt.”

“Kind fires, Sylvester.”

Sylvester put the phone down, and as he went to find Étienne, he thought of the theater.

\---

_ It was Rand’s idea to sneak them inside, and September convinced the twins to come along - although even then, Sylvester felt like he needed the most convincing. (Amy scoffed at the idea and couldn’t be convinced, but she still sulked for a week over being left out.) The theater was empty at night, but Rand still had them whisper and be ready to throw up a don’t-look-here if needed. September and Morane stood up on the stage and improvised speeches, and Sylvester watched them with a smile, barely wondering where the other two had disappeared. A while later, they came back dressed in ridiculous costumes the actors used. _

_ “How would this look?” Simon said, jokingly holding a dress up in front of himself. _

_ “I’d rather you wear that than steal one of mine again,” September said. _

_ “Again?” Sylvester asked, feeling increasingly like he was left out of something. _

_ “That was one time, September,” Simon protested, and Rand answered with a laugh. _

_ “One time that you were caught, you mean.” _

_ Simon huffed and September gasped, but they were both still clearly having fun. “Oh, go and turn on me, why don’t you. Backstabber.” _

_ Sylvester laughed. “He will always take her side, brother. I thought you would have gotten used to it by now.” _

_ He thought the mood changed then, as Simon’s smile faded and Rand avoided his eyes. “Yes,” he said slowly. “How silly of me to think otherwise.” _

\---

“I had no idea you and the King of Cats are getting on so well,” he said as he stepped into the human apartment.

“We’re not. He followed me home.”

Sylvester raised an eyebrow at the blush on October’s face, and cleared his throat. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, reconsidering his words.

“Tybalt is a good man,” he said finally. “He’s been a friend of our family for a long time.” A friend and more, but he wasn’t going to bring  _ that _ up.

October snorted and crossed her arms defensively. “If by ‘good man’, you mean that he’s a pain in the-- neck…”

Sylvester smiled. “I never said he wasn’t that. But the two things don’t cancel each other.” He became serious again. “I just wanted to say… I don’t disapprove. In fact, I think he could be good for you.” At least Tybalt was one of them, even if not one of the Divided Courts. Not that Sylvester had a problem with humans in general - he didn’t have a problem with having children with humans either, for several reasons that would have been obvious to anyone who knew his family history - but not every human was capable of processing the truth of their lives, and building a marriage based on lies rarely worked out. He pushed down the thought of his first meeting with October, and how Amy didn’t talk to him for months after.

October stared at him with wide eyes, and Sylvester was starting to get a little uncomfortable - and also worried she might pass out, with all the blood going into her face. “Thanks?” she squeaked out finally, which made her even more nervous.

Sylvester shook his head and took mercy on her. “I would have called sooner, but I only recently learned that I was needed at the Queen’s Court.”

October relaxed a tiny bit, and they fell into a familiar routine where Sylvester tried to get her to move, and she tried her best to convince her that it was better for her this way, to leave in this apartment and go after cheating human husbands for a living.

“And besides, Raysel would kill me in my sleep,” October said casually.

Sylvester frowned, but he couldn’t disagree. “There is that, yes.”

And then, finally, their conversation turned to what he came for.

“It’s about my niece,” he said.

“Your niece? I didn’t know you had a niece.”

“Yes.” Sylvester looked at the woman in front of her and remembered her as a child, a child who had no blood-relation to him, and yet she was the child of his heart. She called him Uncle Sylvester because he was her mother’s friend, and she never knew she was his niece by Faerie law, even if his wicked brother never had anything to do with her. He wanted so badly to tell her, but the promise was stronger. Would something ever be stronger than a promise to Amandine? “Her name’s January. She’s my sister’s daughter…”

He hugged her close before he left, and thought of August. He didn’t lie when he said January was his only blood family in the country. Toby and Amandine weren’t his blood, not even as much as another Daoine Sidhe would be, and wherever August was, it wasn’t in the Mists.

\---

October had promised to call, and she didn’t. She spoke of a message he never got. By the time Tybalt showed up with a message in person, Sylvester was halfway out of his mind with worry.

“She wishes me to tell you that your phones don’t work, and suggests you use the payphone in the parking lot instead.” Tybalt hesitated for a moment, and Sylvester recognised the same signs of restless panic he was feeling. “She also said they were in big trouble. From what I understood, a killer is on the loose who is strong enough to take down a Queen of Cats.”

Sylvester felt the ground disappear beneath his feet. “A killer.”

“Yes.” 

“Did she say anything about January?”

Tybalt looked even more uncomfortable. “No, she didn’t. Sylvester, about what I said on the phone--”

“Forget about it,” he said sharply, and to his surprise, Tybalt shut up. Then, he spoke again.

“I’m leaving for Tamed Lightning immediately. With the shadows, it shouldn’t take long.”

Sylvester stared. “You’re leaving?”

Tybalt glanced away for just a moment before meeting his eyes again. “With a Queen of Cats dead, I must.”

Sylvester accepted the half-truth for what it was. He didn’t have it in himself to question it.

Against himself, he reached out to squeeze Tybalt’s shoulder, once, then pulled back. Their eyes met, and he hoped the silent plea would be obvious in his without saying it.  _ Keep her safe. Keep them safe _ . His two nieces, alone with a killer outside his Duchy.

\---

“I’ll see you soon. Stay safe.”

“Always do.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“I know. Just get here.”

“As quickly as I can. Open roads, all of you. And Toby… thank you for trying.”

Even as he put the phone down, he could feel the cold seeping into his bones. It wasn’t a natural cold - it was the numbness of the last fourteen years, a memory of being helpless without his family. January was dead. January, the girl who shouted at him after September’s dead for not keeping her safe, stopped her dancing.

He forced himself to snap out of it, willing the cold away. October was alive, his wife and daughter were alive, and that meant he had to stay. As long as he had someone to fight for, he couldn’t go away.

\---

Arriving at the wartorn scene with the injured and the dead equally on the lawn, Sylvester felt like he was looking at it from the outside. He held January’s daughter, who was hers not by blood but by choice, which meant she was hers all the same. He looked at October sitting with his son-in-law, then gathered her in his arms and held her tight, too. The warmth of her body pushed the cold out, at least for a little while.

Before they left, Tybalt stopped him for a moment. Sylvester expected him to speak, but instead the other man reached out and squeezed his shoulder, mirroring his own earlier gesture even if it meant something else now. Sylvester nodded quietly to show he understood, and Tybalt pulled back, staying behind with Barbara’s cats.


End file.
